Sorry - I should have been clearer. I'm in the UK, where there is a pretty sharp distinction between the taught Masters, taken both by intending academics and b

Sorry - I should have been clearer. I'm in the UK, where there is a pretty sharp distinction between the taught Masters, taken both by intending academics and by others (but in neither case are you in any real sense a colleague of the faculty) and the PhD programme proper (where you are, albeit a very junior one). Academics in my department were on first-name terms with both the MSc and PhD students, though in other ways the nature of the relationship was as different as you describe. TBH, my experience of pre-academic workplaces was also that people would be referred to by name rather than title. I know that varies a lot depending on where you are.